Distributed Startups

Shanley wrote an interesting article on Downfalls of Distributed Startups. I have done distributed and I am currently doing all in one place. There are problems with either and the debate around distributed teams is finally getting to a point where it gets from fanboyism to an actual intellectual debate.

Team meeting by teemus, on Flickr

My experience with distributed teams has been great. When you have all members of a team working from different locations and interacting exclusively online things work really well. There is one big caveat however; the moment there is a location that routinely contains more than one person, the team falls apart.

So the real problem with distributed teams in my view is that it’s an all or nothing proposal. Either you go all in or you leave it be.

Workshifting: Bruno, Software Engineer by citrixonline, on Flickr

Now that doesn’t mean that localised teams are the answer to efficient work. Localised teams have the problem that all this direct interaction causes a lot of distraction, a lot of interruption. I have found that if you have room of developers working on a project they tend to be less efficient because of these interruptions.

The model that I have come to believe is optimal is to have a fully distributed team, that travels to a common location every few months. This picks up some of the advantages of localised teams while keeping the advantages of distributed teams.